"She won't let you kill me?"

"No." Metatron's voice held no mercy. "She's just too lazy to devote her energy to you anymore. It was me who didn't have the heart to kill my former colleague directly - I regret it."

Larloch was silent for a moment, dispelling the spell in his hand. He said coldly, "Today, you win. See you in half a month."

"I pray that I and all my subordinates within a three-kilometer radius of me return immediately to the meeting hall at the Warlock's Tomb."

As soon as the words fell, all the liches vanished without a trace, leaving only the ocean of acid still bubbling and bubbling in the cave.

They escaped using a wish spell.

After confirming their escape, Metatron let out a sigh of relief: "...If it weren't for you, I would probably have died here today."

Apodel replied, "Let's thank Emya... Without his Holy Avenger, we would both die here."

After the Twenty-Seventh War

Candlekeep's exploration of the underground ended in an extremely tragic way.

It would be better to say that, when reviewing the situation, the people of Candle Castle realized one thing very clearly: it was extremely fortunate that the fortress had not collapsed.

The people who stayed on the surface fought against the liches and successfully repelled them without any damage.

The real expedition team was not so lucky.

One of the troops died silently amidst the Banshee's howls, becoming a thick, lingering cloud over the conference room. Meanwhile, Stutin's team was similarly severely damaged by Milim's elusive presence, suffering heavy casualties.

The losses in Candle Castle were devastating.

The only team that remained unscathed was the smallest team, Apodel and Metatron.

Of course, Apodel had been renowned in Faerun for centuries, and Metatron had recently captured the Devil Archduke Zariel alive. No one dared to question how the two of them had managed to survive.

Now, what is even more difficult to accept than the casualties is the outcome of this expedition.

Just a few hours ago, those involved in this operation were full of pride and satisfaction. Now, death was quietly clinging to everyone's throat.

——Moreover, even if the bodies of every deceased person were returned to the surface intact, they still could not be resurrected.

"...Milim's attack ended abruptly and without apparent reason," Stutin sighed. "Milim moved unhindered through the rocks, and we were unable to seize that brief window of opportunity, lacking an effective means of counterattack... If Milim had left any later, we would have suffered heavy casualties.

"After a brief rest and regrouping, we continued our exploration underground... but unfortunately, even after hours of trekking, we found nothing. Not only was there no magic circle itself, but we didn't even see any signs of other creatures—we don't even know why Milim suddenly left."

In short, they came away empty-handed.

"..." Apodel and Metatron looked at each other.

The enemy preparing to attack Candlekeep is Larloch.

Moreover, he has no intention of stopping and will soon launch an all-out offensive.

This was absolutely terrifying news, like a bolt from the blue, and it was something that the current Candle Castle could never bear.

When Candlekeep doesn't know who the enemy is, it's hard to find allies willing to spend their time. When they know who the enemy is, potential allies will turn and flee.

Even if we really call Elminster to come, it will still be far from enough.

The two of them defeated Larloch, and the apparent victory was due to Larloch's unexpected unsheathing of the holy sword, which stripped the liches of their defenses. However, in reality, a more crucial factor lay elsewhere.

The spell that the lich is truly best at is necromancy.

In other words, like today, a group of liches gathered together and attacked the enemy in a relatively narrow area...

This is extremely luxurious and wasteful.

If Larloch really decided to take action, the first to arrive would be an endless army of undead creatures - the lich would only lurk behind countless spells and undead spirits.

And this is precisely one of the biggest weaknesses of the Paladins - they are good at dealing with undead creatures, but they cannot deal with the endless undead creatures.

Even if they had Holy Avengers in hand, and let them fight against an entire army of the undead, they would only be drowned.

The current meeting was for the entire Candlekeep. It would be better to share this news with the Candlekeep leadership through more private channels.

"We also encountered the enemy on our side. Luckily, we won." Metatron said, "We now have good news and bad news."

"The good news is that we've driven back the leader of these liches," she said. "I heard with my own ears that he used a wish spell to evacuate all his subordinates. He was going against the odds and must have retreated to recuperate. So Candlekeep will be completely safe for a few days."

After a series of bad news, the people of Candlekeep finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"However, the two of us didn't gain anything beyond that," Apodel continued. "Unfortunately, I seriously doubt whether there's anything hidden in this cave. We've come across nothing along the way—the traces of spellcasting are few and fresh, clearly prepared for this ambush. Any traces related to this incident? Absolutely none."

In other words, this adventure involved sending out core combat forces, but they were beaten black and blue and ultimately gained nothing.

But Emilia believes that there is no such thing as gaining nothing in this world.

"Bible Keeper, our Miril Church may have to temporarily withdraw from its activities." The leader of the Church of the God of Music sighed and stood up first. "Our forces are already weak. Now, we have to focus on our own internal affairs."

The Church of Miril was not the only one to think this way. With this beginning, the weaker churches in Candlekeep began to rise up.

The consensus was that they had to reduce the forces invested in defending Candlekeep and prioritize protecting themselves.

However, what Emiya was thinking about was the result of this exploration.

Perhaps the two magic books were taking effect, as he felt his thoughts were unusually clear. He immediately asked, "...Sir Stutin, did you encounter any other undead creatures during your battle with Milim?"

Stutin answered without hesitation, "No. We only met Milim."

One group was completely killed by the Banshee's Wail, while another group only encountered Milim. While the two teachers in their group encountered Larloch, Larloch clearly hadn't made much preparation. Many of the liches were summoned at short notice.

"...My guess," Emiya tapped the hilt of the sword at her waist and said, "This ambush was planned by the liches, there's no doubt about it: they somehow controlled Milim in advance, and unfortunately, Archmage Toss was just another trap."

"We already know this." Lude's mood was extremely low for some reason.

"The key point is another one," Emiya said. "From the ambush's deployment, it's clear that the ambushers weren't actually stationed underground—this ambush was more likely a spur-of-the-moment move. Otherwise, they would have at least brought a considerable number of undead creatures as human shields, rather than letting the lich's relatively fragile body face Lord Apodel's sword directly."

After all, the original purpose of their expedition was to explore the origin of this incident. Being ambushed was completely unexpected.

And now, they can be sure that Larloch is not the initiator of the changes in Candlekeep.

If this change was carefully prepared by Larloch, how could there be so few troops under the crypt?

"...So?" Lude asked.

Emiya was silent for a moment before answering, "So, now that Milim's coffin has disappeared, we probably don't need to go underground anymore. We can fill the caverns and try to protect them with a mythal. As long as it doesn't become Candlekeep's weak spot, there's no need to expend any more energy."

However, just as he was speaking, Lude's body suddenly shook again.

...?

"That's it. Our next step is to regroup and focus on preparing for Candlekeep's defense. Candlekeep will provide adequate compensation for those killed in battle. We'll discuss this matter in detail tomorrow." Lude seemed a bit lost in thought. "Also, everyone from Team Emya, Stutin, please come to the inner court."

In other words, something unexpected happened with the voters?

Although in Emiya's opinion, the battle on the surface seemed to be going quite smoothly - although Lude was attacked, he was not injured, and only lost a dimensional bag... This was already the best result.

Shar's blade is much stealthier and deadlier most of the time.

The meeting ended quickly, and most people went back to lick their wounds.

However, at this moment, Apodale raised his head slightly, looked towards the entrance of the Central Library, and frowned: "...Sorry, everyone, I won't participate."

****************************************

The atmosphere in the Warlock's Tomb is usually extremely complicated.

Some liches want to regain their freedom, while some liches accept the reality of being enslaved and try to find opportunities to seek advice from Larloch and his colleagues, treating this place as a kind of forum.

But I've never been this low.

Larroque knew the reason for all this.

The foundation of this connection is strength.

Although every lich here was forcibly bound by Larloch's spell, they had all been defeated by Larloch before that. Although they might not have surrendered in their hearts, they were never polite when they used Larloch's banner to show off their power.

—However, the Warlock's Tomb rarely suffers such losses.

The last time, he was pinned to the ground by Queen Simbu of Agorrond. The silver lightning she wielded was invincible, not to mention the lich, even Larloch was nearly annihilated.

But that was a strange power born from the combination of Xinbu and Silver Fire, it was an exception after all.

Now, they were killed again and their bodies were scattered all over the ground.

If there's one enemy they can't defeat, it means they have a nemesis. If there are two enemies they can't defeat, it simply means they're not invincible.

If there are more and more enemies like this, it means that the enemies are not too strong, but too weak.

Most of it was destroyed in one encounter.

Even when facing Xinbu, they had never lost so badly.

Larloch slowly floated into his palace, waved his hand back, and the door slammed shut, and the shadow slowly swallowed him.

Reuniting with old acquaintances was a scene too heavy even for him.

However, just as the shadow slowly fell on Larok's shoulders like a cloak, a charming female voice slowly sounded behind his shoulder: "Larlok, it seems that your life is not very satisfactory?"

Larok suddenly turned around, but there was nothing behind him.

However, the female voice did not fade away: "Do you need...the help of the Goddess of Night?"

Twenty-eight Gods Make Their Moves

The question from the goddess of night, Shar, did not receive an immediate answer.

Larloch simply returned to his throne, letting the shadows engulf him, as if he hadn't heard anything.

But Shar's voice did not stop because of this. Instead, she laughed: "-It seems that your journey in Candlekeep was not smooth."

The source of the voice circled around Larloch freely and said, "You appear unharmed—that's because your men suffered. Ah, you are not a merciful person. You are not sad for your men, but only feel that your property has been severely damaged."

Finally, Larrock's dry lips trembled: "On this point, we do have a lot in common."

"Two things. Apodel Adrian suddenly got a Holy Avenger, and his student Mars also got one." Larloch said bluntly without hiding anything. "This incident caught me off guard."

"You're hiding something." Shar's voice lost some of its teasing. "Two of these rare divine weapons, the Holy Avenger, suddenly appeared without warning. While this is certainly a major event, it's not enough to cause your complete defeat."

There was a hint of anger in the Dark Night Goddess' voice. "I sent my beloved little girl to disable the Candlekeep's mythal—and after waiting for over ten minutes, I was surprised to find that the invincible Lich King had fled!"

Candlekeep's mythal is disabled!?

Larloch had just learned the news and was cheered up. "...I see. In that case, capturing Candlekeep is indeed a must."

Candlekeep had been established for hundreds of years, and perhaps never before had it been so vulnerable. Furthermore, Larloch had only weakened in spirit, not in strength—this was the advantage of employing liches as subordinates. Their only losses were the magical items of those dozens of liches.

…Well, this loss is still quite heavy.

But no matter what, judging from the outcome of the battle, it was Candlekeep that was defeated - the maze was lost, the church was damaged, and its strength was greatly reduced.

But Shar fell silent.

——She was waiting to find out the reason for Larok’s defeat.

Apodel was alone, and even with the Holy Avenger in his hand, he could only protect himself. It was impossible for him to kill the group of liches alone.

"..."

Larrock hesitated, then leaned forward slightly: "—I saw her."

"Who?" Shar smiled faintly, "It can't be Mystra?"

"No, but close," Larloch said. "I saw Metatron."

"Me—" Shar had just repeated one syllable when her voice suddenly became high-pitched. "Meta!? You mean Meta?"

"Is there another Metatron in this world?" Larrock asked.

"Of course not." Shar's voice suddenly turned cold, and the speed around Larloch suddenly increased. "Let me guess... your proud lich army was shot to pieces in just a few rounds."

Larroque didn't want to recall the details of his biggest faux pas, so he simply asked, "—Is that the point?"

The power of a Seraphim is almost innate. These peerless creatures stand at the pinnacle of the world from the moment they are born. Only true gods can surpass them.

However, the power gap between the Seraphim was not that great. Both of them were well aware of how powerful Metatron was.

Within the enclosed palace, shadows silently thickened. These dark projections gathered in front of Larok, transforming into another luxurious chair, even higher than Larok.

A gorgeous woman in black veil lazily reclined on the chair. Her silky legs rubbed against each other beneath her veil. "...So, even Metatron can't sit still anymore. It seems I've returned just in time."

The Goddess of Night slightly spread her legs, leaned forward, and waved her finger at Larloch. "Well, Larloch, with your current strength, I'm afraid you won't be able to capture Candlekeep in a short time, let alone prevent Candlekeep from transferring the secrets they are protecting... At this crossroads, I offer you two options."

"First, join me and fight for me. As long as I gain access to the Magic Network, you will be eligible to compete with my most capable warriors for the position of the God of Magic."

"Is there a difference between magic and magic web?"

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